Caroline Wozniacki reached her third final for the year when she saw off Simona Halep in a marathon Stuttgart semi-final which lasted almost three hours on Saturday.
The former world No. 1, who ran last year’s New York marathon for charity, needed 2 hours, 58 minutes to claim a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 victory.
She was to meet local favorite Angelique Kerber in yesterday’s final after the German enjoyed a 6-3, 6-1 win over the US’ Madison Brengle.
“I felt good right through until the end,” Denmark’s Wozniacki said. “I love these long matches and if I can run a marathon, then I can play in great games like that.”
“We needed nearly three hours and that would be a pretty good marathon time,” she added.
Wozniacki took the first set with the first break at 6-5, but the second was a topsy-turvy affair with five of the 12 games finishing in a break before the Romanian leveled.
Wozniacki turned the screw in the third to break her opponent when her 3-1 lead quickly became 5-1 and although Halep rallied to bring it back to 5-2, the blonde Dane served out to convert her fourth match point.
Having lost the final in Auckland in January, but won Kuala Lumpur’s Malaysian Open last month, the 24-year-old is bidding for her second title this year.
There was some consolation for Romania’s Halep, who is set to take over from Maria Sharapova as the world No. 2 today after her run to the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old was competing in her fourth semi-final of the year after winning the Shenzhen, Dubai and Indian Wells titles, but had to deal with the distraction of a death threat on Thursday night which led to heightened security in Stuttgart.
Kerber needed only 58 minutes to claim her 10th win in a row to beat Brengle, who had knocked out Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, ranked fourth in the world, in the second round.
Kerber is in great form and is set to have the Stuttgart crowd behind her as she bids for a second straight title and the fifth of her career, having won in Charleston, South Carolina, two weeks ago.
The German said she expects a final “which will take hours” against Wozniacki.
“They were always close matches between us, but I am really looking forward to the final,” she said. “At the moment, I am playing with heart and passion, I have trained hard and am able to carry it over into the matches.”
Kerber, who hails from Bremen in north Germany, is hoping to channel the home crowd with her family and friends cheering her first Stuttgart final.
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